Hello.
I've a desktop PC and I'm thinking of adding hardware RAID, but a search of what is available has taken me into technical waters over my head. Can anyone help?
My motherboard is an Albatron PX845PEV "which supports Ultra ATA 33, 66, 100, BMIDE and PIO". Most hardware RAID cards seemed to be designed for SATA. Is this the same thing?
My hard drives are three Western Digital Caviar 40GB 7,200 rpm Mode 5 Ultra ATA.
At the cheap end of the PCI Raid cards is the Megapower 8212 (specs at :http://www.megapower-int.com.tw/product_ide%20card_mp8212Raid.htm)
In the "middle" (my definition) is the Kouwell KW571B (Specs at:
http://www.verbatim.com.au/products/productdetail.cfm?ID=KW571B)
At the top end are products like the Promise FastTrak TX2000 (Specs at:
http://www.promise.com/marketing/datasheet/file/FTTX2000_v3.pdf)
Would all, any, none of these work for me?
Why is there such a big price difference? Does it tell?
Does the addition of a PCI card with IDE channels disable the onboard ones, or can I use these as well for, ie, a CD-ROM and a DVD writer?
Thanks for your help.
